"According to the reports, councillor Msibi had just returned home from his party's recruitment campaign in Nongoma when an unknown gunman entered his house and shot him at point-blank range in full view of his family members," she said.

"We are deeply saddened by the brutal killing of one of the committed and tireless servants in the field of local government in the province."

The death of Msibi is a blow to the province's democratic system of local government and the development of the Zululand district as a whole.

"We do not know the cause and the motive. We are, however, worried that the killing of councillors is becoming a disturbing trend, noting that it is not happening for the first time," she said.

"If this cowardly use of violence was carried out with the intention to subvert the will of the people, it will not succeed."